BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) – The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has lifted the ban placed on the importation of corned beef imported from Brazil.

In a release on Thursday, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws said the decision was made following tests carried out by the Bureau of Standards.

According to Laws, the results indicate that “the products are safe for human consumption in accordance with the food safety laws of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis”.

She says based on the outcome of the analyses, the national Agriculture, Health and Food Safety Committee recommended – with immediate effect – the lifting of the temporary ban imposed on March 24 and to re-introduce to the shelves, all corned beef imported from an originating in Brazil.

“The National Agriculture, Health & Food Safety Committee also confirmed that corned beef imported into the Federation did not originate from any of the meat processing plants under investigation by the Brazilian authorities.”

However importers have been reminded that “import restriction on products derived from mechanically separated beef is still in effect, as a Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) food safety measure”.

The government says that failure to comply with this import condition will result in confiscation of the product and removal of the exporting plant as a trading partner.